Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.
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Good evening. Here’s the latest.
1.20 in 2020.
Former Vice President Joe Biden announced his candidacy for president, framing the election in terms of one question: Which candidate can beat President Trump?
“We are in the battle for the soul of this nation,” Mr. Biden, 76, said in a three-minute announcement video. He is the 20th Democrat to jump in the race.
Mr. Biden, pictured above in Delaware today, is an early front-runner for the Democratic nomination, but the party is quite different from how it was when he first entered politics.
In an attempt to defuse one of his most glaring vulnerabilities as he begins his presidential bid, Mr. Biden called Anita Hill this month to express regret over “what she endured” at the Clarence Thomas hearings. She said, afterward, that she felt unsatisfied.
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2. A month after losing the last of its territory in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State is believed to have pulled off one of its deadliest attacks.
The coordinated attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday are thought to have been carried out by a local group that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. The attacks show that ISIS doesn’t need to control territory to be a major threat — it is now decentralized and reliant on its affiliates to spread its message. Above, St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo just before it was bombed.
Sri Lankan officials have warned of more attacks, locking down Colombo, the capital, and mounting a manhunt for six more suspects. Two of the eight suspects in the suicide bombings are the sons of one of Sri Lanka’s wealthiest spice traders.
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3. The measles outbreak in the U. S. is now the largest since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000.
The number of cases has risen to 695. The outbreak, linked to skepticism about vaccines, has led to extraordinary measures, including $1,000 fines and bans on unvaccinated children in public. Such a sign is pictured above in Brooklyn, N. Y.
“The longer these outbreaks continue, the greater the chance measles will again get a sustained foothold in the United States,” the C. D. C. said in a statement. Here are some common questions about the measles outbreak.
And it’s not just the U. S.: On Thursday, Unicef released a report that showed that in the past eight years, nearly 170 million children worldwide had missed their first dose of the measles vaccine.
